Cherokee

alright guys,

I'm getting this XJ for $300 tomorrow!

He got the passengers door bent up, but that can be replaced. He says the motor runs strong only 178,000 miles!

There are some things wrong with it though, and I need a little advice on what some of the problems are.

#1: he says the alternator doesnt work/needs replacing. The car starts when it is jumped, but when the cables are removed it turns back off.

to me, this doesnt sound like the alternator but he said his battery was good (<1year old). Anyone found this same problem to be something easier than an alternator? any way to check to see if the alternator is working?



#2: the transmission (when in Drive) doesnt shift until over 4000 rpms, and so he has been shifting it manually.

sounds like a TPS and kickdown cable adjustment to me. anyone else have any ideas?


#3: the exhaust needs to be replaced. he said it is cut (?) from the headers.

sounds like he was screwing around and cut something to make it louder or something. is it a pretty easy fix just to grab a whole exhaust from a junker in the jy and put it in?



#4: the passengers door needs replacing, the rocker underneath the door is bent up (no unibody damage).

I plan on just replacing the door with another and calling it good. I don't have the means to replace the rockers (no welder or anything) so I would have to leave that damaged or maybe cover it up cosmetically with bondo and paint? anyone have suggestions for either of these?

96_xj

the ALT could be bad... If it is not charging then the vehicles electrical runs off of the battery when the battery is dead, the car has no more juice! so it could be the battery is out of juice, so when your giving it juice it works! then since nothing is charging the battery the minute you take the jumpers off the juice is gone and no more electrical.... as for the others the pictures did not work but it sounds like a good deal and easily fixed problems if you are willing to work with it. Get a V8 ZJ ALT when you get a new one so you can get more amps =]

Cherokee

hmm yeah, there is a good possibility its dead. but i did just help a friend out that thought her alt was dead and the problem was just her terminals needed cleaning!

I'm on a very very tight budget for this one, so i'll have to get all parts from the jy if i need to replace them



pics should work now

93XJGreenMonster

From the picture of the engine compartment it looks like the exhaust is on there, it may be cut lower around where the o2 sensor would be. Problem is you can just get an exhaust from the yard because you need a cat which are not allowed to buy from a yard. You might be able to pull the exhaust off a junker on craigslist.

Cherokee

hmm good point. i feel like the salvage yard near my house wouldnt care. they kinda just throw the cars on top of eachother and call it good. i feel like they wouldn't take the time to take the cats off of every vehicle.

EmagdniM

For the shifting issue check out and see if these transmissions have a governor pressure sensor and solenoid. I had the exact same issue in my Dakota when I had it and had to replace both to get it to work correctly again. Was a pretty easy job, just pulled off the valve body and put the new ones on.

For the door, if you're going to do some offroading, leave it...hah. Mines all dented up. Makes me feel better when Im pushing through brush and what not...scratches and dings are ok with me.

Id also replace the Alt. Def sounds like the problem to me. Thats easy enough.

Good luck!

Cherokee

hmm never heard of the governor pressure sensor but ill do a little research for it.

as far as the door, i'll probably replace it, but youre right about leaving it if it was my trail rig lol.

looks like i'll need to find myself a cheap alternator.

EmagdniM

Yea, honestly I dunno if they XJs have em. I tried searching a bit too, but only found the gov. pressure sensors for ZJs...so maybe ignore that...hah.

Cherokee

yeah i couldnt find anything either. I'm thinking because he said it just wasnt shifting at the right RPMs that its the TPS thats bad.

i'm worried about finding a cat now...definitely don't have the money to buy a new one and I'm pretty sure he cut it off because he said it was super loud driving it. I havent actually seen this thing yet haha.



anyone have ideas for the rockers? Its looking like a bit much to just cover it up. it would be pretty hard to bang it out too i imagine...

ckysodkorn_xj

honestly it looks un cared for and molested. i mean my jeeps got dents and what notbut idk something just doesnt look right to me. i've got my rocker pushed in on the side worse than that. and something still doesnt feel right about that vehicle. i'd buy it and buy a better one and use the 300 dolllar one for parts.

Cherokee

hmm. I mean yeah it looks a little rough, but if i go and the engine runs good i would say its still worth fixing it up to drive.

I mean I look at it as saving this xj from just being in the junkyard. if the motor is good then Im giving it a second chance at life!

you think this is worth the money to fix up?

Cherokee

well thanks for the advice and help, but looks like I won't be needing any help anymore.

the jacka$$ owner sold it last night for 50 bucks less than I offered and didn't tell me.

so thanks for the suggestions everyone.

really pissed i didnt get it.